


A Simple Thing

by stainedXglassXmasquerade



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Fix-It, Family Feels, Family Reunions, Gen, Pre-Canon, Return form the dead, Sabo Returns, Sabo lives and makes everyone aware of it a little sooner, i have sO MANY FEELINGS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23532490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stainedXglassXmasquerade/pseuds/stainedXglassXmasquerade
Summary: It went like this:He never saw a picture or a wanted poster, not til it was too late.But that was then and this is now.So, it turns out like this:Sabo sees Fire Fist Ace in the newspaper and everything changes.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy & Sabo, Portgas D. Ace & Sabo
Comments: 22
Kudos: 565





	A Simple Thing

It went like this: he heard the name, finished it himself once—apparently—and heard it a couple more times. It’s how it goes, with rookies making a scene and then joining up with Whitebeard a year in. The guy turned down the Warlords, of course he heard the name.

But here’s the thing, here’s the thing that ruined it, the thing that broke him with the worst timing _ever_.

He knew the name, heard it enough, but he didn’t have a face to go with it. Heard the name Fire Fist Ace enough that he knew the rookie, but did he? Did he really? There’d been a niggling thought at the back of his head, that shot up when he heard the name and with it came a child’s voice—two children—three?—proclaiming that they’re brothers, that they’d be pirates, that they’d never be _alone_.

It went like this:

He never saw a picture or a wanted poster, not til it was too late.

But that was then and this is now.

So, it turns out like this:

“Did you hear about that rookie? Pretty young, Sabo’s age, isn’t he?”

“Ohh, that Fire Fist Ace? I heard he turned down the Warlords!”

“If I remember correctly, his real name is Portgas D.—”

“ _Ace_.”

“Oh, Sabo, you heard of him?” Sabo blinked looking up from his dinner and tilting his head.

“Huh? Did I say something?” he asked and the two on either side of him paused, looking at each other, then down at him.

“Did you lose your memory again?” one teased, only a little strained and Sabo offered a weak smile.

“Hahah…” The other shuffled through the discarded newspaper before he pulled out a section of pages.

“Him, see?” he spread out the section, pressing it flat and pointing out a smaller picture, one of a young man smirking, freckles prominent on his cheeks and eyes shadowed by a wide brimmed hat. Sabo stared down at the picture, barely making out the headline of “Fire Fist Ace turns down Warlord position” and instead focusing on the man in the picture. His age, they’d said, eighteen? That was young, even for a rookie—but he was being considered for a Warlord? Impressive. “His bounty rose after he turned them down.”

Sabo reached out, picking up the pages and bringing them a little closer, staring down at the face that burned somewhere in the back of his mind—familiar, achingly so. But why? Why him? Why _him_?

(“ _I’ll be the best, so good everyone will know **my** name, and that! That’ll be the proof of my life, of my existence! No one can say I shouldn’t exist then!_”)

Sabo reeled away from the table, chair toppling over as he heaved in heavy breaths, staring down at the page fluttering to the floor. His hands were shaking—too much, too visible, why were they shaking?—as he buried them in his hair, staring down at the face still smirking up at him.

“S-sabo?”

“Hey, you okay?”

They didn’t touch him, thank the gods. He didn’t think he could handle that right now, not with the voice echoing in his head and tears burning his eyes. He couldn’t breathe, his lungs weren’t pulling in enough breath— _and who was the child in his head, who was he who was he **why was he all he could hear?**_

“Ace,” he hissed, closing hi eyes and digging the heels of his palms into the sockets. “I—know him?”

“Sabo, what’s going on?”

“Hey, Sabo, you know this guy or somethin’?”

“I don’t—” Sabo inched his hands away to look back at the paper. He dug his teeth into his bottom lip, biting down until he tasted copper. “I don’t know!”

“Sabo?!”

“Hey, something’s wrong with Sabo!”

He stepped away, hunching over from the pain deep in his skull, at the throbbing from behind his left eye, _burning_ under his skin.

“Sabo-kun?”

“Sabo!”

In the darkness, a child grinned at him, another, faceless save for a wide-brimmed straw hat, at his side. They both called his name and Sabo closed himself off to everything.

* * *

The first thing he remembered, when he returned back to consciousness, was a forest—a jungle? Large creatures flitted through the shadows, he could see their eyes and jaws filled with teeth, but he remembered pine trees that let him see out over the entire forest, spread amongst more tropical trees.

He remembers a forest.

His muscles burn with the memory, of himself, smaller, younger, jumping against trunks and branches, swinging through them like nothing on Baltigo ever could compare(though he did try). But he wasn’t alone in the memory. Another was with him—two?—who kept pace, swinging alongside him and laughing just as loudly as he would.

One was older, but only just, and the other was younger, he remembers taunting him about it—him? Yes, him… what was his name?

( _“If you can’t keep up, we’ll leave you behind!”_

_“No fair!! Ace, Sabo, wait for meee!!”)_

Ace. The Fire Fist. He knew Ace? Did Ace know him?

“Sabo?”

He opened his eyes, staring up at the ceiling of the infirmary, a sight too familiar for his liking. He tilted his head and the men from before grinned down at him. “Rocco, Lutz,” he greeted quietly.

“You feeling okay, Sabo?” Lutz, fluffy brown hair and a wool skipper, careful grin.

“We were worried about you!” Rocco, black hair tied in a short-tufted tail and goggles perched on top of his head. 

“Yeah,” Sabo raised his head to brace against his temple. “Yeah, I’m okay. What happened?”

“We were hoping you’d tell us. You were fine, but then you saw the paper and started freaking out. You blacked out on us, Sabo. Did you know that guy or something?”

“Bad fight? I don’t think we’ve ever crossed paths with Fire Fist before…”

Sabo sat up carefully, lip twitching before his expression evened out. “No, it’s… I’m remembering—something.”

“You have your memories back?” Lutz asked and Rocco was already standing, poised towards the door. “For real?”

“No, not—just bits, pieces. I remember… vague things. A forest,” Sabo told them and Lutz frowned. “Kids—my friends I guess? I think maybe that Ace guy, or at least he looks a lot like my friend…” Sabo raised his other hand and massaged his temples carefully. “Aagghh, it doesn’t make any sense…”

“Hey, take it easy, Sabo,” Lutz said, patting his back carefully. “Rocco, go tell them he’s awake.”

“Roger,” Rocco saluted and Sabo’s lips twisted down in a scowl, eyes pinching shut as he bent over his lap, hissing at the voices screaming deep in his mind, men yelling and sneering, and the sound of bottles breaking, the unmistakable one of a nose crunching.

“S-sabo?!”

( _“If Gold Roger had a kid? Ha, a devil’s child, the little demon should be killed, just like his old man!”)_

“Ace,” he whimpered, drawing his knees up towards his chest, tears burning at the edges of his eyes.

A child glared back at him, the small, freckled cheeks pulled taut and his lips were pulled in a scowl. His eyes screamed murder, anger and hate swirling in them, but above all, _desperation_.

“Sabo-kun, what’s wrong?” a small hand on his arm and he flinched, staring up at Koala, who stepped back and held her hands up carefully.

“He said he was remembering things,” Lutz told her, away from the chair he used to be sitting in. “Something about that rookie, Fire Fist.”

“Eh? You’re getting your memories back? Do you know the guy?”

Did he? Sabo thought desperately. The child he was remembering, was it Ace?

( _“Did you know? If you exchange cups of sake, you’ll be brothers. When we’re pirates, we may not all be on the same ship, but once we drink this, we’ll be brothers forever. Cool, right?”)_

“He… I… A brother?” Sabo whispered, staring down at his lap, the blanket bunched up under his hands.

“A brother? Do you have one? Or does he?” Koala asked, settling in the chair and leaning forward.

“I… I don’t know,” Sabo told her. “It’s just—pieces,” he said, closing his eyes and burying his face in his hands. “I don’t know.”

“There there, Sabo-kun,” Koala patted his back gently. “You’re remembering, after all this time, so you’ll get it back.”

* * *

It’s a month and a half before he’s back on a ship, participating in a mission instead of being forced behind or tricked into staying around Baltigo.

Of course, that’s when things get kicked into high gear and they’re focusing on retreating undetected when there’s a call over the Den Den Mushi. He doesn’t answer it, of course, but he’s close enough to hear the report. They haven’t been spotted(thank the gods) but there could be an issue.

By this point, everyone’s heard there’s something between him and Fire Fist Ace—the question is _what_ but he can’t say for sure(he thinks they were friends?)—so everyone’s been kinda skirting around that, making sure not to outright mention the rookie or Whitebeard.

“— _Whitebeard, so I think maybe you should hang back. You weren’t noticed, were you?_ ” The Den Den Mushi looks concerned and Sabo clues back in, curling around Koala’s shoulder.

“What about Whitebeard?” he asks and Koala swats him away, drawing the snailphone to her chest.

“Boy! You startled me! Ah, thanks, Kurry-san, we’ll keep that in mind!” The snail closes its eyes and drops his head and Koala frowns at him. “One of Whitebeard’s ships was seen around the area, so Kurry-san wanted to be sure we were careful.”

Sabo watched her for a long moment before he tilted his head and blinked. “Oh? Which ship?”

Koala pursed her lips tight and Sabo raised a brow. “Ah, Sabo-kun, Koala-chan,” Bex tried and Sabo shot the older man a side glance. Bex looked away.

“Koala.”

“Sabo-kun.”

“Which ship?” Sabo asked again and Koala looked away. “Moby Dick, right? You think I’m just gonna, waltz onto Whitebeard’s ship, the center of his fleet, where he’s surrounded by his four top commanders and their divisions and, what? Demand to see Fire Fist? Like some sort of idiot? I don’t even know the guy, and if I did, it’s been eight years—you think he’d remember some kid he met?” Sabo laughs and Koala’s shoulders lose their tension, and her lips start to quirk up in the beginnings of a smile. “I’m not _that_ reckless, give me some credit!”

Except.

Here’s the thing. It goes something like this: he remembers a forest—or maybe it’s a jungle? He’s still not sure—and he remembers two boys and tree house with a black flag. He remembers the one boy had freckles and when he got angry, it’s like, terrifying—he’s only ten, what the heck?—and while he had a temper, he was also strong and brave and mischievous. The other boy was younger and constantly wore a straw hat, like, he loved this hat, a ridiculous amount. It flew off once and the brat near dived over a cliff for it, sobbing that he couldn’t lose his hat, and another time, the dumbass nearly gotten eaten by that stupid crocodile in the river because he was paying more attention to the hat than the crocodile they all _knew_ hated them.

He doesn’t remember much. He couldn’t tell you if he had siblings, or what his parents looked like or their names, but he knew those boys were his friends, best friends—

_(--but once we drink this, we’ll be brothers forever. Cool, right?”)_

\--and he needs to know. He needs to know why Fire Fist Ace brought back memories, why this rookie, who’s strong and powerful evokes such a strong reaction in him. Ace has to be that boy, right? And the other one, did Ace have a brother? Was he Sabo’s brother? Was he just some other kid they ran around with?

He needs to know. It’s been eating at him every night and when others seem him tear through the newspaper, they’ll mention they saw an article Ace was in on page three or five, or whatever. And even if they say he isn’t in it, he still reads through, just in case.

He remembers sake cups, and a forest-jungle with huge animals that constantly tried to eat them, he remembers a tree house with a black flag, he remembers a gray place he’s pretty sure was a trash heap, and he remembers sleeping with two others in a house that wasn’t his but felt more like home than he remembers anything else. He needs to know why it hurts so much to think about when he read in the paper last month that the Whitebeard pirates were in a skirmish with the Navy and several were injured, including two commanders.

So no, Sabo doesn’t waltz onto the Moby Dick.

Sabo borrows the rowboat and starts off towards where the very nice Revolutionary said the Moby Dick was last at. Is Koala gonna kill him? Oh absolutely. Does he care? Not right now.

* * *

“ _Heyo, kid, you okay?_ ”

Sabo breathed hard, raising his arm to wipe at his forehead and roll his shoulders. He glanced up at the towering ship behind him, shaped like a whale. There are several men hanging over the rail, staring down at them. He can’t quite make out their expressions, but he knows they’ve been watching him draw closer and closer. Sure, he’s all alone in a rowboat and it’d be _sooo_ easy to knock him off before he could get within fifteen feet, but apparently because he isn’t giving off any killing intent, they’re fine with letting him do his thing.

“ _Need a break?”_

“This is gonna sound super sketchy and I swear I’m not here for anything bad, but is Ace around? If not, I’ll be on my way!” he called up, leaning back on the bench and grinning up, hoping they’ll maybe not try to snipe him. Sure he can swim, but can he swim fast enough is the question.

“ _Ace? You a bounty hunter or something, kid?”_ A few more wander over and now he supposes he’s made a spectacle of himself.

“No way. I’m a Revolutionary.”

Laughter booms from the ship, everyone gathered at the rail howling and a few even toppling back. He waits, a smile playing on his lips as they call out for a ladder and then he’s climbing, the boat tied precariously to the end and the faces are getting clearer the closer he gets. Some are crying as they snicker, trying to catch their breath and he hops the rail, settling on it and staying there. They may be friendly for now, but, well, it doesn’t hurt to stay back and away—also, he can dive back and make a break for it if things go south.

“Ace, huh?” a man asks, eyes droopy and tattoo visible through his unbuttoned shirt. The subtle smirk and relaxed stance make Sabo settle a little more casually on the railing and he grins back at the First Division Commander.

“Since I was invited up, I take it he’s here?” Sabo asks cheerfully and Marco tilts his head to the side.

“A Revolutionary, are you?” he asks instead and Sabo raised one leg up resting his arm on his knee. “In the area? Or did you make a special trip?”

“In the area,” Sabo explains, grinning a little wider. The little snail in his pocket chooses that moment to start ringing and his smile abruptly fades to a blanch. Marco’s face slips to something more neutral and he crosses his arms. The men around him, smiling up to now, have stepped back, expressions blank or strained.

Sabo makes no move and the ringing continues.

“Well?” Marco asks. “Aren’t you going to answer it?”

“Don’t wanna.”

“Hey kid, maybe you should,” one pirate sneers and Sabo purses his lips into a straight line.

“Don’t wanna,” he repeats, hands firmly pressed to the railing on either side of him.

“Gurararararara,” echoes from off to the side and Sabo turns slowly to face the Captain himself, settled in a large chair he didn’t notice and drinking from a sake bottle that looks like it would reach Sabo’s waist _at least_. “You shouldn’t leave them waiting, boy,” Whitebeard chuckles and Sabo pouts, slowly bringing out the little snail and holding it up. Still ringing, he stares at it for a long moment before undoing the receiver.

“…hello?”

_“Sa-bo-kun~!”_ Koala chirped and Sabo twitched at her tone. “ _Since you weren’t in your room, I checked the office! And since you so **kindly** left me a note, I thought I’d call, just to make sure you really aren’t as stupid as I think you are!”_

He carefully says nothing, staring down at the snail with Koala’s eyes that are staring up at him. Immediately, the eyes turn to slits and the snail’s expression morph.

“ _Boy! I take my eyes off you for one second—one second!—and you’re off doing gods know what! And you even took our boat, you imbecile!”_ Sabo hears snickers and hunches his shoulders a bit more. _“Dumbass! Get back to the ship already! You’re on desk duty for the next month!”_

“Hey, you don’t get to decide that!”

“ _Ohoho, I do when I already got permission!”_ Sabo scowled down at the snail, who glared up at him. _“I know you wanna talk to Ace and everything, but you can’t just go zooming off on your own! Blockhead! You’re such a brat, you know that!”_ The snickers are growing louder and when he looks up to glare, there are several pirates muffling the sounds behind their hands. “ _Besides, you don’t even remember everything! For all you know, that kid wasn’t Fire Fist! How many little boys have freckles, huh, huh?”_

_“_ Look—” Sabo tries, watching the guys around him, hoping he can get out of this with as little pain as possible. “I’ll come back, okay?”

_“Before or after you track down Whitebeard and make a nuisance of yourself, huh? Honestly, why do I put up with you? You’re reckless and impulsive and you never listen to anyone!”_

Sabo scowled down at the snail, whose expression shifted to something more neutral. 

_“Sabo-kun. I know this is hard on you, okay? But it’s been so many years, and I just don’t—I don’t want you to get hurt, okay? What you remember—it might not even be true. And I would just hate for you to get your hopes up and finally meet him, only for him to say he’s never met you before. Just because you’re both from the East Blue doesn’t mean you’re from the same island.”_

Sabo sighed and the little snail sighed back at him. The snickers around him have died down and the pirates were now watching him, some curiously, some with sympathy.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“ _I’ll have you peeling potatoes til we get home, maybe that’ll tire you out, huh?”_

_“_ Hah? You can’t make me do that!” Sabo glared and the snail smiled wickedly.

“ _Ohhhhh? So you’d rather mop the entire ship? Sabo-kun, you’re such a good guy! Everyone! Sabo-kun said he’d take over chores when he gets back!_ ” Cheers burst over the snail and Sabo colored when the pirates around him laughed at his misfortune.

“ _The Chief’s the best!”_ Bex hollered and Sabo growled.

“ _Sabo-kun, see you soon!”_ Koala chirped, then the snail dropped its head and closed its eyes. Sabo was twitching as the deck came to life around him.

“Hey, what’s all the ruckus? We aren’t having a party, are we?” someone called and, as if rehearsed, those around him parted to either side to show off the young man coming out from one of the hallways, grin wide and orange cowboy hat docked up. The freckles were apparent, even from this distance and Sabo doesn’t have to look very hard to see the boy from his dreams—memories?—in the man standing before him. “Hm?”

“You have a visitor,” Marco drawled and Fire Fist Ace cocked his head to the side, wandering closer. “Sabo, wasn’t it?”

Ace froze and Sabo hazily recognized the emotions running across his features. Disbelief, denial, anger, refusal, the briefest spark of hope, only to be drowned by a familiar ( _so familiar, isn’t it? The boy who broke noses and sneered while he beat grown men to a bloody pulp)_ rage.

“How do you know that name?” Ace growled and Sabo tucked the den den mushi away, sliding carefully off the rail and taking slow, casual steps forward. “ _How_ do you _know_ that **_name_**?” the pirate seethed and Sabo carefully raised a finger to knock the brim of his hat up. As he took in Ace, Ace took in him.

“Well, I’ve always known it,” Sabo mused, calm despite the fire burning beneath his skin and the pulsing behind his left eye, taking in the young man before him who was twitching with restrained rage. “This isn’t like you, Ace. You’ve really mellowed out,” he breezed and grinned wide when Ace lunged, a snarl painted on his lips and fire biting his skin. “A Devil Fruit? That’s a surprise!”

With deft hands, he pulled out the pipe he always felt more comfortable using, despite the weaponry lessons he’d been forced to attend—not that he ever listened. The pipe felt the most comfortable, he knew it well and how to handle it. Facing the oncoming wrath of a Devil, he grinned, holding the pipe out in a threat.

“Bastard!” Ace screamed and it was familiar, the movements and timing, and the heat was new, for sure, but Sabo felt so free, so alive, and so _full_. It was Ace, his first friend, his best friend, his _brother_ , and how could he have forgotten? How did he forget his _brother_? How did he forget the spitfire who was on equal footing, the boy who scared mountain bandits, the boy who raced through the forest with him, fighting like he was born for it?

“Ne, Ace!” Sabo laughed, dodging the burning fist and sliding back, twirling his pipe as he did so. “So you went out to sea too!” Sabo ducked, rolling off to the side and popping up, beaming at the absolutely infuriated man before him. Sabo swept off his hat grandly. “Sorry, I know we agreed on seventeen, but I couldn’t wait anymore!”

Ace froze, the fire on his arms dying to nothing and reveal human skin once again. Sabo grinned, plopping his hat back on his head and grinning wide. Ace’s chin wobbled. “You’re dead,” he huffed, shoulders tensing. Sabo watched him swallow. “We—we watched the Noble—your ship _sank_ ,” Ace’s voice cracked and Sabo dropped his smile, sliding his pipe securely onto his back. “It was _burning_ and it _sank_ ,” Ace repeated.

“I don’t remember much about it—to be honest, I didn’t remember much of anything, not until a couple months ago, I saw your wanted poster and I just—things started coming back. Bits and pieces, but I saw you and I kept _hearing_ you so I couldn’t just—” Sabo cut off, scratching at his neck. “It’s funny, right? I lost all my memories but it was your picture in the paper that started bringing them back!”

“Amnesia?” Ace asked, pulling back and Sabo saw the walls coming up.

“Not that I’m surprised,” Sabo continued on, folding his hands carefully behind his back and sending his brother the most innocent look he could muster. “After all, who wouldn’t want to forget your ugly mug?” Ace growled and Sabo tilted his head to the side. “Ah, well, it’s too bad I remembered Dadan too. If I could only remember her, I think I wouldn’t mind losing my memories again.” Ace snorted, then seemed to remember he wasn’t quite ready to trust him and hardened his eyes. “But most of all, I wish I could forget your stupid grandpa’s survival training. I don’t even look like you guys, why was I roped into it, huh? Just because I hung out with you didn’t mean I wanted to go camping with Garp!”

“S-sabo—” Ace broke off, eyes wide and filling with tears. “Is it—is it really you?”

Sabo grinned. “Is Luffy still a rubber dumbass?”

Ace sobbed, lunging forward and crashing into the blond, sending them rolling across the deck. Within seconds, Sabo was bawling too, the two curled around one another. Ace held tight to the man he mourned eight years ago, and Sabo clung back to the brother he found again.

An hour later found them passed out on the deck, Ace sprawled overtop his long-lost brother and Sabo spread eagle on the hard wood beneath them, snoring. When Thatch brought out a large tray with an entire chicken, along with several bowls of rice and two crewmembers behind him carried equally large trays of entire hanks of meat and large bowls of pasta, Sabo sat up first, shoving Ace aside and blearily taking in the three men coming closer. Ace groaned at the less-than-gentle awakening, grousing and grumbling before he jerked upright, mouth watering.

“Thatch!” Ace greeted, but stared at the chicken in his hands. Sabo had a similar look in his eyes, watching the men come closer. “Is that for me?”

“It’s actually for Sabo-kun,” Thatch told him cheerfully and Ace turned to his brother, murder in his eyes.

“Sabo’s fine, right? Aren’t you Sabo?”

“I _rowed_ here, I’m starving,” Sabo spat back and Ace glowered. Sabo held out a fist and Ace stared down at it for a long moment, before he held up his own fist. “Best of three takes it all,” Sabo declared.

“Wait a minute, this is _my_ crew,” Ace complained and Sabo grinned.

“I’m a guest!”

“You came uninvited!” Ace sneered, eyeing Thatch from the corner of his eye. The man look amused.

“You’d let your own brother starve?”

“I thought you were dead!”

“I will be if you don’t let me eat!” Sabo held his fist up threateningly and Ace glared for a moment longer before Thatch set the platter before him and the two helping him dropped theirs as well.

“Can’t you two share?” Thatch mused and the two eyed each other carefully before all hell broke loose and they dove for the trays.

* * *

“I need to call Luffy!” Ace screeched, diving for the blond and tackling him to the deck. Sabo went down hard, the breath knocked out of him and his hat skidding across the wood.

“What the hell, Ace?!”

“We need to call Luffy! We thought you were dead!” Ace repeated, tugging on Sabo’s arm before he could think about going anywhere.

“Shit, we do,” Sabo agreed, the knowledge dawning on him. “Wait, how we gonna do that?”

“I have Makino’s bar’s number,” Ace eyed the blond, but when he made no move to bolt, he sat up. “Pops! Can I borrow your Transponder?”

Whitebeard had been calmly amused by his son and his brother the entire time Sabo had been there. He hadn’t said much of anything, just expressed his happiness that Ace had found his brother and welcomed the blond to the Moby Dick.

“Of course,” Whitebeard gurgled behind the absolute _mountain_ of sake bottles. If Sabo was more concerned, he’d definitely be worried about the size and amount he was drinking.

“Thanks, Pops!” Ace tugged on his arm and Sabo stood, following after the man into a hallway. “Back here, it’s in navigation,” Ace told him, pressing open a door and revealing a long table with several maps rolled up in boxes along the walls. The Transponder snail sat on a small shelf on the far wall. There was a clipboard pinned to the wall beside it, names and numbers written on the pages. Ace thumbed through until he reached the third page, scanning down the list before he grinned. He reached for the dial, typing in the numbers. The snail woke up, beginning to blubber and Ace picked up the receiver.

“ _Hello, this is Makino!”_ the familiar voice greeted and Sabo bit hard at his lip, tears blurring his vision briefly.

“Makino! It’s Ace!”

“ _Oohh, Ace-kun! How nice to hear from you! Have you been well? We saw your bounty in the paper, are you doing okay?”_ The snail was smiling, Makino’s eyes warm.

“Y-yeah, yeah I’m fine! Is—is Luffy around? I gotta talk to him,” Ace managed, swallowing and reaching for Sabo’s arm with his other hand.

“ _Ah, hold on a sec. Woop Slap, can you go get Luffy for me?”_

_“Eh? What’s the brat done now?”_ the crotchety old man groused and Sabo grinned.

“ _Ace-kun is on the line! Go fetch Luffy!”_ They heard vague grumblings before Makino-snail smiled again. “ _He’ll be here in a moment! So, Ace-kun, tell me what’s be going on! You joined up with Whitebeard, I heard! Very exciting! Garp-san was very unhappy, but, well, you know how he is.”_

“Makino,” Ace started, then pouted.

Sabo reached for the receiver and Ace let it go. “Makino-san. Do you remember me? It’s Sabo.”

The snail was quiet, but it was staring. Then, tears filled its eyes. “ _S-sabo…kun? Is it… is it really?”_ More tears and Sabo grinned wide. He hoped the snail took on his features, and his own tears spilled over when Makino let out a sob. “ _Oh! Sabo-kun! You’re okay! We all—we all thought you—ohh!!”_

_“Eh? Makino, why’re you crying? Oi, Ace, are you making Makino cry?”_

“Luffy!” Ace greeted and the snail took on their younger brother’s feature, a frown on its lips. “Luffy, you won’t believe who I found!”

“ _Huh? Is it Shanks?”_

_“Luffy, it’s—”_ Makino broke off into tears and Sabo leaned in close to his brother.

“Hey Luffy.”

“ _Eh? You’re not Shanks… Who’re you?”_

“Luffy,” Ace wrapped his arm around Sabo, pressing their cheeks together as he grinned. “Luffy, I found Sabo.”

The snail was quiet, then tears formed and fell, followed by their brother’s wail. _“SABO!!”_

“It’s me, Luffy, for real!” Sabo said, both he and Ace crying again. “It’s been a long time, but I only starting getting my memories back recently. But I’m okay, I promise!”

Their brother was too overwhelmed and they heard Makino sobbing too, so, in the navigation office of Whitebeard’s main ship, they just cried.

* * *

_Ring-ring-riinngg ring-ring rinnggg, ring-ring-rinnnggg ring-ring-rinnggg—clank._

Marco smiled softly at the collapsed brothers and carried the little snail away from their snoring. “Hello, Sabo can’t answer right now. Can I take a message?” Thatch snickered and Pops shook his head, but he was smiling.

“ _Eh? Who’s this?”_ the girl from before asked, the little snail taking on wide eyes and a curiously guarded expression. “ _Is he okay?_ ”

“Sure sure, he’s just sleeping is all.” Marco settled down on a crate, setting the snail beside him, holding the receiver carefully.

“ _…sleeping.”_ The snail’s eyes narrowed. “ _Boy… then wake him up! Who is this?”_

“I don’t think his brother would appreciate that, so why don’t we just let them relax, eh?” Marco drawled and Thatch threw his hands up, shaking his head in clear disappointment. Marco smirked, ignoring him. 

_“His brother? What’s going on? **Who are you?**_ ”

“Marco, pleased to meet you,” Marco told her casually and the little snail blinked up at him with wide eyes.

_“…ah. Well. Hm.”_

“We’ll take good care of him, promise. We have enough food to feed him.”

“Marco, that’s mean,” Thatch muttered and Marco smiled.

_“Ah, well, that’s nice, really, ah, Marco-san, but we can’t just—he—mmm.”_ The snail was conflicted.

“Gurararararara, Marco,” Pops called and Marco tilted back, seeing him holding out a large hand. Marco stood, carrying the snail with him and hopping up to settle on the chair’s wide arm, holding the receiver out. Pops took it carefully. “Little missy, we’ll make sure he’s fed and watered.”

Marco snorted and those still on deck immediately muffled their laughter—Thatch buried his face in his hands—and the snail blinked rapidly.

“ _E-eh?”_

“Gurararara. It seems him and Ace go way back. It’d be cruel to separate them so soon.”

The snail’s cheeks puffed out, taking on an annoyed look and Marco grinned. “ _That boy… I knew he’d do something stupid…”_ The girl seemed awfully upset, but really, who could blame her? “ _When he gets too annoying, just kick him out. He can figure out how to get home on his own, I don’t care,”_ the girl declared flippantly and Pops laughed again.

“How about instead, you can come visit? No harm in collecting him yourself, little missy,” Pops decided and Marco raised a brow curiously.

The snail’s features went from wide-eyed to devious. “ _Edward-san, I look forward to meeting you,”_ she said. “ _Have you moved far from when Sabo-kun found you?”_

“Just a little more west, I think,” Marco spoke up and Pops nodded his thanks. “We’ll keep the surprise a secret, don’t worry, little missy.”

The snail looked smug. “ _My thanks. See you in the morning!”_ The snail dropped its head, connection cut off with a clank.

“Ah. We never got her name,” Thatch noted and Marco shrugged.

* * *

Sabo awoke to Ace kneeing him in the chest in his mad scramble to get up, the sounds of a bell ringing echoing across deck. “Shit, Ace—the fuck?” Sabo grumbled and Ace rubbed at his eyes.

“Breakfast,” was his brother’s grand declaration and Sabo sat up. He could get behind that. He sat up, stretching out his back and slowly rolling his neck, wincing at the soreness. “Hey, is that girl—Koala?—gonna be mad you stayed over?”

“Nahh, she’ll be fine. I’ll call her later and tell her what happened,” Sabo waved off Ace’s concern, dusting off his jacket and settling his hat carefully back on his head. Ace went as he was, his own hat haphazardly hanging by the string around his neck. “We all have our own hats now, huh? Ace, you copied us,” Sabo noted and Ace squinted at him. Sabo grinned back and Ace smiled.

“So what?”

“Nothing~”

Sabo nudged him as Ace led them towards the dining hall, where voices were heard, and Pop’s laughter boomed above it all. “The Old Man’s in a good mood,” Ace noted, still smiling. “Thatch makes the best food, you’ll love it.”

“If its anything like yesterday, definitely,” Sabo agreed and they both wiped at their mouths, pushing open the doors that would lead them to breakfast.

“Sabo!” several voices rang out in greeting and Sabo paused, staring at the familiar—too familiar, what the heck??—faces and then he froze. Their grins were sharp.

“Oh no…” Sabo groaned and Ace tilted his head at the newcomers.

“Friends of yours?” Ace asked and Sabo inched back towards the door.

“Ace, I have to go, like, right now,” Sabo told him.

“Sabo-kun~” a woman called out, voice cheerful and light. Both immediately zeroed in on the girl settled on the arm of Whitebeard’s chair, her smile wide and bright. “Good morning!” Pops grinned as well, his laughter a low rumble. “Edward-san was nice enough to invite us over for breakfast, so we thought, why not?” Several cheers followed her words and Sabo promptly turned on his heel, bolting.

The girl dived off the chair, bursting past Ace in hot pursuit and Ace had only just managed to turn to follow when Sabo cried out in pain. Ace, along with a good portion of those who were interested, followed to the deck, when Sabo was face down on the wood, the girl seated firmly on his back and her expression murderous. Her legs bracketing his, holding him down and she had her arm curled around his neck tight, hissing down at him.

“Eh, Sabo?” Ace called out, just a little nervous of this woman. “You good?” Sabo gurgled in response and Ace watched as the woman tightened her hold.

“Ah, he’s fine, Koala would never hurt him,” one man assured him and Ace supposed they would know best.

Koala let go and Sabo rolled away from her, breathing heavily as he glowered at her. She straightened up, brushing down her skirt and smiling prettily back at Ace. “You must be Ace! Edward-san filled me in! I think it’s really great that Sabo-kun got all his memories back, and it’s nice to know he has family who were waiting for him!” Her expression was just so genuinely happy, Ace grinned back.

“He told me about you too, nice to meet you, Koala, and thanks for looking after him all this time.”

“Oh, it was nothing!” she waved a hand in dismissal and Sabo grumbled something under his breath. “ _What was that?_ ”

“I SAID _,_ ” Sabo sat up, raising his voice, “That you’re a witch and Hack’s been keeping track of me a lot longer than you have!” Koala took a threatening step forward and Sabo tilted his chin up in challenge.

“Chief, you can’t take her,” the man beside Ace informed him blandly. “Besides, you’re being awfully rude as a guest. Fighting instead of thanking your gracious host. And after they made a feast because you’re a glutton. Honestly, Chief,” the man shook his head in disappointment and Koala looked horrified by her behavior while Sabo shrugged.

Koala took three steps and grabbing Sabo by the ear, hauling him up and frog marching him back towards the dining hall. Ace followed behind them, grinning wildly at his brother’s protesting and had the pleasure of seeing Koala manhandle him into a bow, profusely thanking Pops for his gracious approval in not only their visit, but for taking care of Sabo the day before.

* * *

Koala refused to let him go once they finished breakfast, insisting that they’d be leaving and no matter how much Ace and Sabo protested, she was firm.

“I know you’re brothers—gods help us all,” she muttered and Sabo frowned, “But we all have things to do. Catch up when we’re done, okay?” Koala sent him a pointed look and he glanced away.

“Fine.”

Ace threw his arm around his shoulders, bringing him in close and pulling Koala with him, grinning wide. “We’ll meet up when you’re done, okay? Give me your number and we’ll figure it out. We can call Luffy again and taunt him, that’ll be fun!”

“Makino won’t like us bothering her while she’s working,” Sabo warned, but he was grinning too.

“Ah, then we’ll just use the Mayor’s office,” Ace dismissed and they both snickered.

Here’s the thing, it went something like this.

Only one thing changed, one simple, small thing.

(But it changed everything.)

**Author's Note:**

> aaaahhhhhhh since we're still on lock down and i'm struggling to find new things to watch, i just rewatched the dressrosa arc, so, here we are.  
> the tragic thing is, if i do a fix-it for sabo, dressrosa gets wonky because there's no reason for luffy to join in the colosseum?? ace didn't die so his fruit isn't up for grabs??  
> so i already have an idea for how that works out, but it kinda hurts law more...  
> but then i felt bad about that, so i have another fix-it so our favorite spotted emo doctor gets to keep his goofy clown dad!  
> its just too bad i can't figure out how to have it in the same universe. someone has to be unhappy, either luffy or law and that, that hurts, you know?


End file.
